1 Answer(s)

Vishal Kumar Thakur

Advocate

Annulment is when the marriage is valid from the very beginning but can be annulled on various grounds. This is the term commonly used by Filipino layman but it is not commonly used by Filipino lawyers because it is more difficult to prove and in most cases, the circumstance of the married person does not fall in this category. Art. 45, of the Family Code provides the grounds for Annulment of Marriage. Declaration of Nullity on the other hand, states that the marriage is void or did not even legally exist in the first place. A Filipino or Filipina can marry again once there is a final judgment from the court that declares the marriage as null and void from the very beginning. The case that will be filed is what we call “petition to declare the marriage as null and void” and commonly called as “petition for nullity of marriage”. Hence, for the purposes of remarriage, a void marriage must be declared and there must be a Judicial Declaration of Absolute Nullity of a prior subsisting marriage before contracting another. Otherwise, you commit bigamy. The marriage is null and void due to the absence of one or more of the essential or formal requisites of marriage as stated in Art. 2 and 3 of the Family Code. But what is applicable in most cases is Art. 36 of the Family Code which states that “A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage, shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after its solemnization.” Most petitions for nullity of marriage are based on psychological incapacity of the other spouse.